


Young Man, Take the Breadsticks and Run

by heartsick_stranger



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 2020 is a lot different from 1995, Gen, willie is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:42:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27467386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsick_stranger/pseuds/heartsick_stranger
Summary: Luke missed out on a lot of things when he was alive because of his tunnel vision when it came to music.Luke’s musical ambition pushed them all pretty far, but he knew that his tunnel vision had also gotten them into trouble. It had definitely gotten him into trouble enough times.But while he’d been dead, Luke had missed out on twenty-five years’ worth of culture, including twenty-five years of music, and he needs to catch up. It’s not like he’s going to try to change the band’s sound to fit 2020 people’s tastes, but he wants to know how music has changed.—The boys get a taste of how much things have changed since they became ghosts.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 138
Collections: JATP Appreciation Week





	Young Man, Take the Breadsticks and Run

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wrote this (VERY LATE) as a part of the JATP appreciation week that's going on on tumblr. The day 4 prompt was pop culture/memes so I tried my best.

Luke missed out on a lot of things when he was alive because of his tunnel vision when it came to music. He forgot about studying for tests in favor of writing new songs and practicing with the band. He forgot about his own health sometimes in favor of improving the band’s sound. He even forgot to care about his own junior prom because he was so much more invested in the fact that they’d gotten a good gig that night that he didn’t even remember it until Reggie and Alex told him they’d been looking forward to it.

Luke’s musical ambition pushed them all pretty far, but he knew that his tunnel vision had also gotten them into trouble. It had definitely gotten him into trouble enough times.

But while he’d been dead, Luke had missed out on twenty-five years’ worth of culture, including twenty-five years of music, and he needs to catch up. It’s not like he’s going to try to change the band’s sound to fit 2020 people’s tastes, but he wants to know how music has changed.

The thing is, Julie doesn’t actually have many CDs.

“Most people don’t listen to them anymore,” she tells him with a shrug. “We’ve got technology that makes it way easier to listen to music nowadays. You don’t need a CD player or a walkman. If you’ve got a phone or an iPod or any computer, you can listen to music.”

It’s only been a few days since they performed Bright, but after hearing Dirty Candi’s song, he really needs to hear more of what music of 2020 sounds like. He actually likes some aspects of it, like the cool beat.

“Can you make me a mixtape?” he asks Julie. “Or whatever the 2020 version of a mixtape is, I don’t know. Or maybe just a list of some of the artists you think I should listen to?”

Julie nods. “Yeah, I can make you a list and you can use my laptop while I’m at school,”

He nods, then frowns. “Wait, but I can barely pick things up on my own. How am I supposed to—  _ ugh _ !”

He falls back onto the couch with a groan, feeling contempt for how slowly he’s figuring out how to be a ghost.

“Then I’ll queue up a few artists before I go for the day,” Julie offers, and then the problem is solved.

But then he’s stuck listening to the full works of Green Day, which feels a little weird because he listened to Green Day when he was alive, too. It’s weird, knowing that if they’d lived then they could’ve been just as successful as Green Day seemingly was.

That same day he also gets reintroduced to Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers and Oasis and Backstreet Boys. He kinda liked Backstreet Boys when he was alive but it feels weirder listening to it now, knowing that the guys in that band are no longer his age but in their 40s.

Over the next few days, he gets a taste of My Chemical Romance, Bring Me the Horizon, Evanescence, Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy, One Direction, Little Mix, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Fifth Harmony, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and a  _ lot _ of others.

He’s definitely impressed by Taylor Swift. Her early songs are country and her latest hits are more pop, but she’s a seriously talented lyricist too. When he asks, Julie tells him that she, unlike a lot of other recent artists in the music business, writes all her own music.

Luke is more surprised to find out that there are people in the music business who  _ don’t  _ write their own music. Unless it’s a duo like Elton John and Bernie Taupin, he doesn’t get it.

And thank heavens, Elton John is still alive! Elton John and Bernie Taupin are still alive and still best friends and  _ there’s a musical biopic about him ohmygod Julie can we see it _ —

And that’s how the movie nights start. Julie leaves her laptop in the garage once she’s done studying for the night, and puts on whatever movie they want to watch. On Friday nights they can all watch on the big TV screen in the Molina family’s living room, but on those nights the movie has to be PG for Carlos’ sake and they can’t make as many comments until the end, or else Julie will end up laughing during a tense scene because of a comment one of them makes and then her dad or brother will look at her weirdly.

On one particular Friday night, Julie introduces them to the marvel cinematic universe. Alex has the most problems with it, since he read the comics, but then Julie tells him that there have actually been more comics released since 1995. Luke watches in amusement as Alex wracks his brain trying to remember the issue number for the last comic he bought— apparently it had ended on a cliffhanger and he’d been dying (ha) to know what happened next— and asks Julie if they can buy or rent those issues from any places nearby.

Julie snorts at that. “We can try to find a place nearby, but if not then we can probably check online. Or my dad’s old stash of comics. Maybe he’ll have the one you’re looking for.”

Reggie is the one who usually picks the movie for the night, but one night Reggie is helping Julie with math homework and Luke and Alex start one of the new Star Wars movies that came out.

_ The Phantom Menace _ is quite frankly a menace of a movie. Not in the way that it’s menacing because it’s scary, but in the way you’d call a toddler a menace if they cause a lot of problems. Because  _ wow _ the movie has a lot of problems. Is this Anakin kid supposed to be like Jesus? Or like the Antichrist? What are midichlorians and why do they determine who becomes a Jedi?

“Let’s not tell Reggie,” Alex says quietly.

Luke nods. “Especially not about Jar-Jar. That was… weird.”

“Yeah,” Alex agrees. “Should we bother trying to watch the rest of the movies?”

“Nah. Reg is gonna be back soon anyway.”

Alex spends more time with his ghost friend, Willie, and learns more 2020 slang that he tries out with Julie.

Sometimes it goes well:

When Julie shows them an idea she has for a lights display if they perform outdoors, Alex says, “that’s lit,” and Julie promptly trips over her own feet and laughs.

Sometimes it doesn’t:

Luke has to watch as Alex tries to figure out what Julie means when she sends a text about stuffing breadsticks into her purse. (Which, to be clear, Luke doesn’t understand either— Julie doesn’t even carry a purse, only ever her backpack for school.)

And then, as a joke, Luke responds by leaving breadsticks in her backpack.

Julie comes back from school that day, looking like she’s about to find a way to incinerate ghosts, dropping her bag dramatically when she comes into the garage.

“ _ Why _ would you put breadsticks in my bag?  _ Where did you even get this many breadsticks, Luke? _ ”

Jeez, and he thought she’d be excited that they were getting the hang of this ghost thing. Or at least with the whole ‘living in a completely different decade’ thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! All comments are appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @/heartsick-stranger


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